March 6
SAUDI ARABIA:
Last minute reprieve for Saudi due to be crucified; Saudi Arabia's royal family
has issued a last-minute stay of execution to a jewellery thief sentenced to be
crucified after an outcry from human rights groups.
Sarhan al-Mashayekh was 1 of 7 men whose death sentences were confirmed by King
Abdullah on Saturday. The other 6 were due be shot by firing squad on Tuesday.
Mashayekh would have been executed at the same time and then, to fulfil his
additional sentence, his body displayed to the public in a cruciform position
for 3 days.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights groups all
exressed outrage at the sentences, partly because of their severity, partly
because the defendants claimed confessions had been extracted under torture,
and partly because at least 2 of those condemned were minors at the time the
crimes were committed.
On Tuesday afternoon the sentences were put on hold, local officials and
relatives said. The delay was ordered by Prince Faisal bin Khaled al-Saud, the
governor of Asir province, where the case took place, one official said.
The 7 were convicted of armed robbery, but one of the men, in an interview on
Monday from his prison cell, claimed that the group was unarmed when they stole
jewellery from a string of shops in the southern Saudi Arabian city of Abha in
2006. He said that confessions to armed robbery were beaten out of the men.
Saudi authorities regularly order beheadings and other forms of death sentence
for rape and murder, and while armed robbery can also attract the ultimate
penalty it is employed more rarely. Crucifixion is occasionally ordered as an
extra humiliation - and warning - even where the method of initial execution is
beheading.
Abha is in the country's far south-west, and more conservative than other parts
of the kingdom such as Jeddah. Without a written legal code, judges in Saudi
Sharia courts have wide flexibility to impose verdicts and sentences.
The Washington-based Institute of Gulf Affairs, which is also campaigning
against the sentences, claims that people from the south of the country are
regarded as second-class citizens and regularly receive harsher punishments as
a form of deterrence against unrest.
1 of the 7 men, Nasser al-Qahtani, used a smuggled phone to tell the Associated
Press from his cell that he was only 15 at the time of the crime.
"I killed no one," he said. "I didn't have weapons while robbing the store, but
the police tortured me, beat me up and threatened to assault my mother to
extract confessions that I had a weapon with me while I was only 15. We don't
deserve death."
He said the judge at his trial took no notice of the torture claims.
"We showed him the marks of torture and beating, but he didn't listen," he
said. "I am talking to you now and my relatives are telling me that the soil is
prepared for our executions tomorrow."
(source: The Telegraph)
INDIA:
SC to hear death row convict's plea on review petitionsSecurity Guard Training
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a plea of a death row convict seeking
that review petitions filed by him and other condemned prisoners against their
sentence be heard in open court instead of being decided by judges in chambers.
A bench of justices P Sathasivam and J S Khehar will also decide the plea that
all death penalty matters in the apex court be heard by a bench of 5 judges as
recommended by the Law Commission.
The court meanwhile stayed the execution of death sentence of the petitioner
Sundarrajan whose review petition on its judgement for upholding his death
sentence is pending before the apex court.
It also issued notices to the Centre and the Supreme Court Registrar on the
petition seeking amendment of Supreme Court Rules for allowing hearing of
review pleas of death row convicts in open court.
The apex court had on February 5 upheld the death sentence slapped on
Sundarrajan by courts below in Tamil Nadu for kidnapping and strangulating a
7-year old boy to death in 2009 when Rs 5 lakh ransom demand for the child's
release was not paid.
He has pleaded that the safeguard of hearing review petitions in open court is
required as "it would be the final barrier against judicial errors resulting in
loss of life."
"The recommendation in the Law Commission report that all death penalty matters
in the Supreme Court be heard by a bench of 5 judges be implemented and, in the
alternative, at the least 3 judges ought to hear criminal appeals where capital
punishment is involved," he has said in his petition filed through advocate
Renjith B Marar.
"It is submitted that where life itself is at stake, the fact that the
consequence of an error which may be irreversible is grave, and sets death
penalty cases distinguishable as a class apart from other cases where review
petitions may be disposed of in circulation," Sundarrajan, who hails from Tamil
Nadu, has said.
(source: Business-Standard)
*********************************
Trial starts for Indian teen accused of rape death
The trial of an Indian teenager charged with taking part in the gang rape and
murder of a young physiotherapist has begun in New Delhi.
The teenager, who cannot be named under Indian law, appeared in a New Delhi
court yesterday.
Police say the juvenile and five men lured the 23-year-old woman and her male
friend on to a New Delhi bus where they repeatedly raped her and beat them both
before tossing them onto a road.
The woman died of internal injuries in Singapore two weeks after the December
16 attack.
The case has sparked soul searching about whether the country is too soft on
young offenders.
The 17-year-old defendant has been charged with the same 13 offences as his
co-accused, including rape, murder and robbery, but is being tried separately
by the juvenile court.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges last week.
If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of 3 years in juvenile detention,
while his adult co-accused, whose trial began last month, could face the death
penalty.
The difference in punishment has infuriated many Indians, including some police
and political leaders, who have called for tougher penalties for minors and
lowering the age at which people can be tried as adults, from 18 to 16.
"The boy appeared in court and heard the proceedings with a quiet and calm
composure," said a lawyer at Delhi's Juvenile Justice Board.
The next hearing was set for March 15.
The lawyer, who asked not to be identified because of legal restrictions on
reporting cases involving minors, said the trial was likely to last 2 to 3
months.
A magistrate who recorded the rape victim's statement while she was in hospital
appeared in court as a prosecution witness, the lawyer said.
(source: ABC News)
*********************************
Court extends stay on Saibanna's execution
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday extended till further order the stay on
execution of Saibanna Ningappa Natikar.
The mercy petition of Saibanna was rejected by the President on January 4.
A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice K. Sreedhar Rao and Justice V.
Suri Appa Rao extended the stay after it was informed that similar matters are
pending before the Supreme Court for adjudication.
Like in Saibanna's case, the issue of delayed rejection of mercy pleas of death
row convicts - 4 aides of the slain forest brigand Veerappan and 1993 Delhi
blast convict Devender Pal Singh Bhullar - were pending before the apex court.
The Union government has filed a statement in the High Court contending that
"time consumed in taking a decision on mercy pleas cannot be termed either as
cruelty or double sentence" as claimed in Saibanna's petition.
"In fact, pendency of mercy petition gives an extra bounty of life to the
convicts facing death penalty albeit in prison," the Union government claimed
in its statement.
Saibanna was sentenced to death in January 2003 by a trial court in Gulbarga
for killing his 2 wives and daughter.
(source: The Hindu)
MALAYSIA:
Intruders could face murder charges, says Nazri
The terror groups that intruded into Sabah and killed Malaysian policemen could
face murder charges, says Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.
"If they have broken the laws of Malaysia, they can be charged in court," the
Minister in the Prime Minister???s Department said after opening a dialogue on
establishing a sentencing council here yesterday.
However, Nazri added that the decision to do this, and if so, what charge the
gunmen would face, would be made by the Public Prosecutor.
When asked how the Sulu gunmen would be treated, he said if it was a war, the
Geneva Convention would come into play.
"However, the incident is an intrusion on the country's sovereignty, not a
war," he said, adding that because of this, the situation was better dealt with
by the police.
For murder, under Section 302 of the Penal Code, those convicted are liable to
face the mandatory death penalty.
In the skirmishes between the Sulu armed intruders and Malaysian security
forces, 8 policemen were killed.
(source: The Star)
PAKISTAN:
Musharraf attack: Pakistani court cancels death penalty
Pakistan's top court on Wednesday overturned an army court's death penalty
handed to 2 civilians for a suicide attack on the country's former military
president Pervez Musharraf, a media report said.
Mr. Musharraf had survived 2 assassination attempts in December 2003 in the
garrison city of Rawalpindi when his motorcade came under attack. Several
civilians and policemen had been killed in the attacks.
Several military personnel and civilians had been arrested and convicted for
their alleged role in the attacks, reported Xinhua.
A military court had handed down life sentence to a civilian, Rana Naveed, and
20-year jail term to another man, Ameer Sohail.
However, the army appeal court had later turned life terms into death penalties
in July 2005.
Both had challenged the verdict in the Supreme Court.
A 3-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, had said
in previous hearings that the military appeal court had delivered the verdict
without informing the convicts and adhering to the relevant procedure laid down
in the law.
The court had reserved its judgement March 1 and delivered it on Wednesday.
The apex court in its previous hearing had expressed surprise over the manner
in which the military authorities enhanced the convicts??? sentences.
(source: The Hindu)
*********************
Pakistan top court overturns death penalty for Musharraf assassination attempt
The Pakistan Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned the death penalty for 2
civilians, Rana Naveed and Ameer Sohail, who were sentenced by an army
appellate court for attacking the country's former military president Pervez
Musharraf. Musharraf had survived 2 assassination attempts in December 2003,
but civilians and police officers perished in the attacks. A military court had
originally given a life sentence to Naveed and a 20-year jail term to Sohail,
but the army appellate court converted those rulings to death sentences in
2005.
Musharraf has been a controversial figure in Pakistan. Pakistan authorities
pledged in February 2012 to arrest Musharraf for his alleged involvement in the
assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto was assassinated
in 2007 in a suicide attack at a rally in Rawalpindi after she returned from
her exile in Great Britain and Dubai. In November 2011, an anti-terrorism court
in Pakistan indicted 7 people in the assassination of the former prime
minister. At that time, Musharraf was not charged despite allegations that he
played a part in the assassination. However, his property was seized by the
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) after an order rendered by Pakistani Judge
Shahid Raffique due to Musharraf's failure to respond to multiple subpoenas.
Those documents were issued because the FIA accused [JURIST report] Musharraf
in the assassination of Bhutto.
(source: Jurist.org)
IRAN:
Human Rights: 82 executions in less than 2 weeks
In an unprecedented record of savagery and crime, the religious fascism ruling
Iran executed 82 prisoners in country's prisons or in public hangings in the
13-day time span of February 19 thru March 3. This is while information on many
executions never leaks out of prisons.
Executions in recent days include:
In Gohardasht and Ghezel Hessar prisons 20 prisoners in 2 mass executions, 8
prisoners in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz (February 19), mass execution of 8
prisoners in Khorramabad, 9 prisoners in Kerman (February 19 and 22), 5
prisoners in Kermanshah, Arak, Ahwaz (February 20), 5 prisoners in Mashhad, 3
prisoners in Yazd (including 2 brothers with 3 more of their brothers awaiting
execution), 4 prisoners in Rasht, 3 prisoners in Ghazvin another in Behbahan
and 2 prisoners in Oroumiyeh (February 22 thru 26), 2 prisoners in Sari
(February 27 and March 1), 2 prisoners in cities of Mashhad and Kashan
(February 27), 9 prisoners in Gachsaran and Nahbandan in Southern Korassan
Province (4 prisoners each) and 1 in Semnan Prison (February 28), and 2
prisoners in Miyaneh (March 3).
President-elect of the Iranian Resistance Mrs. Maryam Rajavi described the
savage and unabated trend of arbitrary executions as testimony to mullahs'
regime feebleness and distress and its fear of heightening popular uprisings,
especially on the eve of the festival of fire. She added that mass executions
in recent days upon Khamenei's order are organized crimes that are carried out
to blockade political breathing of Iranian community. The court orders for
these executions under any excuse are illegitimate and unjust. The Velayat-e
faqih's criminal and corrupt judiciary has no legitimacy and competency.
President-elect of the Iranian Resistance called on all fellow citizens to mass
protests against these executions and to express their support and solidarity
with the families of those sentenced to execution to prevent massacre of their
loved ones by the regime.
She said, "Ruling mullahs are benefitting from UN silence, appeasement approach
of western governments, particularly from U.S. repeated requests for a direct
negotiation, to intensify these murders. Instead of such shameful positions, UN
and western counties should refer Iran's human rights violation dossier to the
Security Council and prosecute Khamenei for committing crime against humanity
repeatedly.
She added that in such conditions, dealing with and appeasing this regime is in
contravention of the most fundamental of human values and a participation in
the execution, torture, massacre and oppression of the Iranian people.
(source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran)
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